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My extended fast journal

After writing about the physical benefits of extended fasting, I decided to try it myself. As I’ve never engaged in an extended fast, this is my first foray into Moses, Gandhi, Alma and Jesus territory. I am seeking both spiritual and physical blessings with this fast and will report what I learn.

My goal is to fast at least 30 days and maybe reach the golden number of 40 days. But I’ll be happy with 30.

I started my fast Sunday night, April 6th, 2008. Here’s a quick recap.

Monday night, April 7th. I completed a 24-hour fast. Whoop-dee-doo. I do this every month. No biggie. I can handle this.

Tuesday night, April 8th. I completed a 48-hour fast. Wow. I’m impressed. I don’t think I’ve ever gone two days without a bite to eat. Strangely enough, I have no temptations and hardly any hunger. Piece of cake. I can easily reach 30 to 40 days.

Wednesday night, April 9th. Most of the day was fairly easy, though my sense of smell has gone up a notch or ten in sensitivity. I can smell every dish being cooked up from a block away. For most of the day, it’s no biggie. This evening, though, hunger hit hard. Maybe it was me watching episode after episode of Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations on the Travel Channel, which I regularly record, that set me off on a hungering after non-spiritual physical things. I don’t know. As I don’t normally watch television, other than Bourdain and Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern (another Travel Channel show), I didn’t think it would hurt to keep watching my favorite shows during my time of fasting.

I was wrong.

Although my mouth normally waters while watching Bourdain stuff himself with things I have only dreamt of eating, this time I got an epiphany. My childhood dream of becoming a chef hit me again. Not that I want to change careers and work at a restaurant of my own or of another. Heaven forbid. No, but suddenly, this man who doesn’t ever cook (my wife being the chef of the house), suddenly found himself desirous to both cook and eat. Everything. Who cared what it was. But especially the good stuff. I saw my culinary experience as very limited and realized that I had to catch up. What if I died tomorrow, or on the 30th day, fasting, and never got to eat any of the good stuff? No, I now know without a shadow of a doubt, that on that 41st day will begin my newfound second profession of cook. And not just any cook, at that. I plan on making my mark on the culinary world by creating my own personal dishes, unique in all the world. Thank you Bourdain and thank you fasting.

Okay, so, now it’s the middle of the night, technically April 10 (Thursday) and I’ve somewhat gotten over the starvation I earlier experienced. Will I make it through this fast? Will I make it through tonight? Or will my strong will see me through it? I’m betting on my strong will (as I really want the spiritual and physical blessings that supposedly come from this.) This blog post will document my new journey. Anyone who wants to leave encouragement or even tell me what a stupid thing I’m doing is welcome to do so. (If I get the latter, it’ll make it all the more pleasurable to say “Nyah, nyah, nyah, nyah, nyah!” to the scoffers and naysayers as I recount my improved physical state and enhanced spiritual powers with a demonstration that my will is stronger than theirs.)

Note: the only thing I am ingesting during this fast is lots of water and some sea salt. I’m also ingesting a special clay, mixed in water, to help clean out the intestines.

Thursday night, April 10th. I have completed a four-day fast. Today was easy. I don’t know why.

Friday night, April 11th. I’ve got a five-day fast under my belt. I had no temptations today, whatsoever. I did feel a little tired in the late afternoon, but it didn’t last long. My wife decided this morning she would also fast to clear up some physical conditions that have not responded to medical treatment. She lasted until this evening. She says she’ll try again tomorrow. The 6th or 7th day is when the body switches signals. I look forward to finding out what this feels like.

Saturday night, April 12th. I’ve now completed a six-day fast. Still no temptations, however, I went to bed kinda early last night and overslept today. I was exhausted pretty much the whole day, with sporadic bursts of energy in between. I took a two-hour nap in the afternoon, which helped to restore energy. I hope that tomorrow I’ll be past this stage. For those who attempt an extended fast, I recommend that you time it so that your sixth or seventh day lands on a non-work day, such as the weekend, so that the fatigue doesn’t cause problems. I don’t know how long the signal switching lasts, but I’m ready for it. My wife, on the other hand, apparently has a food addiction. She tried to fast again today and lasted about 4 hours. She has now ditched the fasting idea, which is too bad, as her conditions constantly afflict her.

Sunday night, April 13th. I’ve completed a seven-day fast. It appears my appetite has completely switched off. The sight and smell of food causes no reaction. My strength has returned, too. My stomach still feels weird at times, though, from being continually empty (hunger pangs), but I have no desires to eat. I wonder if the hunger pangs will go away eventually. Today was also kind of weird as I partaking of the sacrament, as I realized I couldn’t partake of the bread, only the water. Hopefully, Heavenly Father understands the situation and blesses me according to the desires of my heart, despite partaking of a partial sacrament. It should be smooth sailing from now on until the “wolf’s appetite” arrives after the 30th day. I’ll deal with that when it comes.

Monday night, April 14th. I have completed an eight-day fast. Today was a piece of cake, or should I say, a piece of nothing? Had I known that extended fasting was this easy, I would have done it along time ago. All one has to do is get through the 3rd day and the 6-7th days and it’s easy sailing until the end. I weighed myself on a scale this morning and found that I have lost 13 pounds during this fast! I had no fatigue whatsoever today, only energy and calmness.

Tuesday night, April 15th. I now have nine days under my belt. Red areas are starting to break out in certain parts of my body. It’s not quite a rash, more like dermatitis. It doesn’t itch. In fact, I wouldn’t have known it was there until some one pointed it out to me. It is not extensive, just one or two very small spots. As the skin is an eliminative organ, this doesn’t phase me. I had plenty of energy today, no fatigue, drank lots of water, etc. Tomorrow will make the ¼ mark. Maybe I should throw a celebration or something, without the cookies and milk.

Wednesday night, April 16th. I’ve completed a 10-day fast. So far, so good. I dreamed I went to a restaurant last night and chewed a morsel of an orange, only to realize that I was fasting and attempted to spit it out, but some went down the hatch. I had a Herxheimer effect tonight for a few hours due to another healing modality I’m using, but it passed. No fatigue, plenty of energy, etc. 20 – 30 days left of this fast.

Thursday night, April 17th. 11 days down, 19-29 left. My stomach has been queasy on and off today. I trace it to that “other” healing modality I did yesterday. The red areas are not spreading, but have become more noticeable. They are drying out with small scabs. I expect they’ll fall off eventually. The bad thing is some of these areas are on my face (forehead and cheek) so people are probably going to think I’ve got some contagious disease. At least it appears to be in its “out” phase.

Saturday afternoon, April 19th. Tonight will make 13 days into this fast. 17-27 days left. The queasiness of my stomach has steadily decreased over the last two days, but occasionally I still feel it. Smelling foods and being around foods seems to help get through the days. Smelling a lemon removes queasiness temporarily. According to a friend of mine, smelling food imparts the food’s energy to the body. My 13-day experience seems to indicate that this is correct.

As I’ve been thinking a lot about food lately, I ended up inventing a novel way of serving a simple sandwich: peanut butter and jelly. Make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, pour some cold milk in a bowl, place the sandwich in the bowl so that one side soaks up the milk. Pour more milk if necessary until the one side is saturated with milk to overflowing. Flip the sandwich over using a spatula. Pour more milk until the second side is saturated. Cut the sandwich into small squares and serve immediately with a spoon. I tried it out on my youngest son. I also prepared a second peanut butter and jelly sandwich (the normal way.) He ate both. Afterward, I asked him which he preferred. His answer was the one soaked in milk.

There has been no fatigue, etc., so far. Nevertheless, I am anxious to get to the 40 day mark so that I can finally start eating again. The red spots have turned dark and dried out. I don’t know when they will fall off, but I expect it to happen soon.

One last thing: I probably won’t be writing any more original articles on this blog until this fast is over. Although I have already noticed a significant improvement in mental clarity, I’m trying to bathe as little as possible in the radiation of a computer monitor as I can. But I may still comment on posts from time to time and I will definitely continue to update this journal.

Monday night, April 21st. No I haven’t keeled over and died. However, my wife did save my life Saturday night. (It was nothing fasting related.) As I have saved her life on an occasion, which I thought would forever put her in my debt, she has now repaid the favor, so we are now even. Now back to the regularly scheduled fasting updates…

I’ve completed a 15-day fast. I am at the half-way mark for a 30-day fast. There are 15-25 days left. I feel fantastic. No loss of energy, no temptations, though I think about food constantly. I’ve even invented other culinary dishes much more complex than the simple BJM sandwich (peanut butter and jelly with milk sandwich.) The queasiness of my stomach, which was due to a accident with another healing modality that I did, has finally left. Thank goodness! I can handle hunger, but constant nausea without vomiting was driving me up the wall. My skin blotches have not entirely gone away, yet. I got a call from a good friend today to find out if I was still alive. His assessment, based upon our conversation, was that I had more energy than ever before. He’s right. I do.

Tuesday night, April 22nd. 16 days down, 14-24 days left. No changes, other than that the dry blotches are still slowly falling off. I think and talk about food constantly and need to smell all food odors around me. I am haunted by its memory. I weighed myself yesterday morning and I had lost a total of 18 pounds so far. There are still more areas where poundage can come off, so it will be interesting to see what my final weight will be. My wife said to me tonight that she will attempt a fast starting tomorrow. We’ll see.

Wednesday night, April 23rd. 17 days down, 13-23 days left. They don’t call this the hunger cure for nothing. I get really hungry at times, but without any appetite. I know it sounds like a contradiction in terms, but those who have gone through this before will understand what I’m saying. It’s a very strange sensation. My wife has fasted all day today. We’ll see if she sticks with it tomorrow.

Thursday night, April 24th. 18 days down, 12-22 days left. My skin is clearing up more and more each day. No problems, no temptations, no appetite, no loss of energy or strength, etc. My wife completed a two-day fast tonight. I’m proud of her, though she is suffering tremendously with a hungering appetite. If she can last past three days, her appetite will switch off and it’ll be much easier. We’ll see if she makes it. what4anarchy is now considering doing an extended fast, too.

Friday night, April 25th. 19 days down, 11-21 days left. It’s amazing to think I only have three weeks left of this. My wife’s will broke down this morning. She ended her fast two and a half days into it. She says she’ll try it again. The first three days really is the hardest part. No changes as far as I go. We went to a church function tonight, which, off course, had food. I hated seeing people leave food on their plate. I wanted everyone to eat every last bite. Fasting gives one a new perspective on just what a blessing food is. Also, the starving people around the world have been on my mind. I can’t bear to see food go to waste.

Saturday night, April 26th. 20 days down, 10-20 days left. About a year ago I broke my big toe in a crush injury. I have never had full mobility in it since, but I now, since fasting 20 days, have full mobility with no pain, at all. I was told that I would probably develop arthritis in the joint. If it did develop, it’s gone now. The last I checked (yesterday), I had lost a total of 19 pounds since starting the fast. My skin seems to be noticeably improving all over my body.

Monday, April 28th. 22 days down, 8-18 days left. Tonight I will complete 22 days. The last few days I’ve felt nausea. I can deal with hunger, but constant nausea drives me up the wall. I found that a broken cinnamon stick right under the nose so that I am continually smelling it takes away the nausea. Today, I’ve had minimal nausea. It appears to be going away. Also, there is a bump or inflammation in my throat, at the back of my mouth. It’s been there for days. It feels like a hair stuck there. Again, it is driving me crazy, but it, also, is diminishing. I want to clear my throat constantly. The red blotches have all turned very dark and are starting to lighten up to match the color of the surrounding skin. They are no longer dry or flaky or scabby, as all of that has fallen off, leaving only dark “stains” which each day lighten more and more. It still looks like I got some vile skin disease, though, as they are in a very noticeable area (the forehead.)

I broke my big toe last year (a crush injury) which prohibited me from full mobility and what little mobility I had was with some pain. Some were of the opinion that arthritis would develop in the toe and I would always have pain and limited mobility. The other day, though, I noticed I had full mobility with no pain, whatsoever. If I did have arthritis, it appears to be gone. [Tue 29 Apr ’08 update: I didn’t realize I had written this same thing last Saturday. Sorry for the redundancy.]

The miracle of the toe has inspired my wife and mother to try a seven-day fast, to see if their symptoms improve any. If improvement is noticed, they will continue longer. They started last night. We’ll see how long they last.

One piece of advice to any who wish to start an extended fast: the bowels should be purged first before beginning the fast. The best way to purge bowels is through squatting.

Tuesday, April 29th. 23 days down, 7-17 days left. Still going strong. I’ve learned that the nausea is caused by the lymphatic system dumping an overabundance of toxins into the liver, which then delivers bile to the stomach to attempt to get me to vomit it out. In other words, this is a detoxification symptom. Though less today, there is still some nausea. I’ll just have to wait it out.

Thursday, May 1st. 25 days down, 5-15 days left. Tonight will make 25 days on this fast. It’ll take me at least 10 days to get off of it gradually. Will I make it to the magic number 40? I am anxious for the end to come, but very curious as to when the “wolf’s appetite” will hit. Spiritual benefits have already been manifested. A couple of nights ago I received a prophetic dream which woke me up. About 45 minutes later the prophecy was fulfilled. (Unfortunately, it wasn’t a “good” prophecy.) At any rate, though, it is good to know that extended fasting does work as promised to increase one’s faith so that spiritual gifts already possessed are enhanced or new spiritual gifts are obtained. My skin blotches are now nearly faded away. My wife lasted but one day on her fast, but my mother, who it turns out started her fast last Saturday afternoon, is still going strong. She has a surgery scheduled for next month (a replacement) that she is hoping to avert by curing her condition with fasting, so she is a bit more motivated than my wife.

Friday, May 2nd. 26 days down, 4-14 days left. Tonight will make 26 days on this fast. Two weeks left, unless I decide to go for a record. (Highly doubtful.) A mystic intellectual (strange mix) friend of mine thinks I have sufficient mental and spiritual constitution to go past the “wolf’s appetite” phase and just live on the Spirit. She may be right, but my goal in this fast is just to clear up certain physical ailments and to gain more spiritual powers. When those physical ailments are gone, I will stop. The next time I do this—and there will be a next time, as I now see that faith is rapidly increased on an extended fast, and I desire even greater faith—it will be a strictly spiritual fast, to obtain the spiritual gifts that I do not yet have and to obtain the higher manifestations of the gifts that I do have. I’d also, one day, like to get to the point of Moses, who apparently went 40 days and 40 nights without food or water. That requires living on the Spirit from the get go. My mother is still going strong on her fast, too. (Almost six days now.) Oh, yeah, and I weighed myself today and have lost a total of 23 pounds on this fast.

Monday, May 5nd. 29 days down, 1-11 days left. Tonight will make 29 days on this fast. It looks like I’ll be going at least 40 days on this fast. Although one of the two conditions I was hoping to clear up appears to be completely gone, the other condition is not, yet, entirely eliminated, even though each day it gets better. I will fast until the second ailment has entirely disappeared. If, though, it disappears and the “wolf’s appetite” hasn’t struck, I’ll wait until my appetite comes, then stop. If the appetite strikes and the condition is not completely gone, I’ll ignore the appetite until the condition is gone, then stop. That is my plan. I don’t care if it takes 40 or more days. I suppose all the medications I took as a kid (steroids, etc.) have accumulated in my cells and my body is now scouring every last nook and cranny, trying to get rid of all foreign substances. This is, in fact, what happens with extended fasts. The first part all the “obvious” poisons are gotten rid of, the second half of the fast is dedicated to removing the junk from all “hidden” spots. Each day you extend it, more garbage is found and thrown out. Eventually, I’ll be completely clean of the medications. I believe it is the medications, as I’ve been a fairly good eater pretty much all my life.

This is not to say that the fast is easy. It is not. It is very hard. It takes guts to go cold turkey like I’ve done. Usually, fasting experts suggest you build up to long fasts with short ones, using juice fasts, etc. I don’t recommend doing what I’ve done unless you’ve got what it takes. I am extremely motivated, though, so I don’t mind passing through 40 days of absolute hell and boredom. On other news, my mother lasted almost nine days on her fast and today she decided to wean herself off of it. She experienced lightheadedness, dizziness, nausea, weakness, etc. She will go through with her surgery, even though a slew of ailments she has always had have disappeared in the last nine days, including the limp she used to have.

Wednesday, May 7th. 31 days down, 9 days left. Tonight will make 31 days on this fast. I was just about ready to throw in the towel last night. The last few days my salivary glands have been overactive, salivating constantly. Plus, I have had to expel phlegm continuously. Not the green or orange stuff, but even though it is white, I know it is toxic because after clearing my throat and spitting it out a few times, I’m left with a putrid taste in my mouth. I’ve got to brush my teeth often to get the taste out of my mouth. This has become quite an inconvenience as I need to spit all the time and it has been affecting my work. I was left with a decision: continue on and have my work disrupted or discontinued (for a time) or stop before the body had cleared out everything. Initially, I decided in favor of work and putting food on the table. But then I reconsidered. The Lord has always provided for us, even miraculously in the toughest of times. I’ve made it a practice to try to always live by faith. Why change now, right? So, I’m pushing on. Still no appetite. Yesterday I weighed myself and found that I’ve lost a total of 26 pounds, so far. There are a few more areas of stored fat that can be melted away, so I expect to lose even more. Even so, I look extremely skinny. Not skin and bones, but muscle, skin and bones, as I’ve lost none of my muscle fiber. However, the muscle is now lean muscle, not fatty muscle, and I can finally see clearly just how much actual muscle tissue I have on my body. The last few days I’m having a hard time getting water down the hatch. Water gives me the chills. Also, I’m unbelievably cold all of the time. I need to wear layered clothing all the time. Go figure with all the insulating fat I’ve lost. One other thing, I now have times of lack of energy. I need to take rests often. My mystic friend says the last ten days of a 40 day fast is the hardest part. She says to keep in mind that I am on “nature’s operating table” and to take it easy. Whatever is happening in my body must be radically altering every part of the organism.

Friday, May 9th. 33 days down, 7 days left. Tonight will make 33 days on this fast. Although I am encouraged that I only have a week left to complete 40 days, the last few days have been absolute hell on earth and very discouraging, to say the least. First of all, my appetite still hasn’t returned. When will it, I wonder? What if the 40th day comes and still no appetite? Should I still push on until the body has completely cleaned itself? How long will this fast have to last? Then there was (and still is, to some extent) the horrendous experiences of the last few days. Imagine the worst tasting medicine you’ve ever had to ingest. Now imagine tasting that medicine 24-hours a day for days at a time. This is what I’ve been going through. I was nearly brought to tears yesterday by this purging process. Granted, yesterday was not as bad as the day before yesterday, meaning that that the taste was not as strong, but it was nonetheless constant with no solution in sight other than waiting out the purging of these synthetic chemicals embedded in my organism. I remember being sick all the time as a kid—I was the boy in the bubble, just like John Travolta, except only in the hospital “oxygen bubble bed,” nine times before the age of nine due to pneumonia—but I had no idea until a couple of days ago when I asked my mother that I had received pharmaceuticals from the get go, from birth onward. She had attempted to limit the amount of medications the doctors wanted to administer to me, but I still got a fairly decent dosage on a daily basis, year after year after year. Now the “miracle” of modern medicine is being purged out of my system and I am suffering to an extent I had not anticipated. Hopefully today and subsequent days will not be as bad as the last few days.

Tuesday, May 13th. I completed a total of 34 ½ days, ending the fast on Sunday, May 11th. I came up about 8-10 hours short of completing a full 35 days, or seven weeks. The medicine taste was too much for too many days. So, I decided to cut the fast short. As it is, I’m still detoxifying (spitting up toxic goo and poisoned saliva).

Alma, Jesus, Moses and the other saints in former ages never had it quite like we do. Unlike them, we are totally surrounded with chemicals, from pesticides and herbicides in our plant foods, to chemical leakage into our water tables (yes, even trace pharmaceuticals are found in our water supply), to deodorants, air fresheners and disinfectants sprays in the air we breath (inside), to smog and other air pollutants (outside), to chemically treated and laundered clothes that we wear against our bodies all day and all night, to all the chemicals we use to clean things with, including our own bodies. Then, of course, there are the chemicals (pharmaceuticals) that we partake of when sick. This environment is so polluted with artificial substances that it is virtually impossible to escape it. Even getting your own piece of land and growing your own food doesn’t guarantee that the ground underneath you is not polluted to some extent. You’d have to start with new, clean soil (such as Square Foot Gardening) and purified water (using something like a Berkeley water filter) to begin a new, clean cycle, which is not something everyone can do.

When faced with such pollutions, it is only natural that the body’s natural defenses to cast out the bad and keep in the good would eventually be overrun. Especially since none of us are even taught the proper way of expelling the bad (squatting), which causes us to keep it in, compacting it and making ourselves a toxic breeding ground. It is only logical, then, that our bodies contain embedded poisons accumulated over years of bad living, or even just living in a polluted environment, compounded by direct injection of those same chemical poisons in the form of pharmaceuticals under the guise of medicine.

The saints in former ages never had to deal with this. Their extended fasts were purely spiritual feasts. Detoxification wasn’t an issue. Their water, food, clothing, air, soil, and environment didn’t contain the pollutions ours does. Although they may have ate an improper diet, according to some modern researchers, as they squatted and did other anatomically proper movements, their bodies were more or less able to get whatever bad was in, out. Thus, their fasts were not for physical benefits, though undoubtedly, they experienced physical benefits. And I highly doubt they experienced detoxification like I have been going through.

When one’s body is detoxifying in such an extreme and rapid manner, such as what I experienced, it becomes a bit more difficult to focus on the spiritual aspects of the fast. All your mind can focus on is: when will the suffering end? This is not the right environment for spiritual fasting. Nevertheless, I have grown spiritually on this fast.

I’ve also grown in knowledge about the body in general, especially about my own body. I now realize that I have more embedded synthetics (chemicals) in my body than I realized. 35 days was not enough to clear them all out. I needed more time. Perhaps as long as 10 or more days. I now believe I understand to a greater degree the underlying causes of the two physical conditions I had hoped to clear up. Although certain raw-foodists will cry out: Cooked food is poison!, the truth of the matter is, what came out of me, that put me in hell for days on end, was not cooked food, but pharmaceuticals. Cooking food may change the chemical composition of the foods, but in no way or not to the same degree as synthetics. Chemicals are the real poison. The body can deal with many cooked foods. It cannot deal with chemicals. I see this clear as water now.

One of the two conditions I had appears to be gone, however, as I did not complete the entire duration of the fast—as my appetite never came back, because I was still detoxifying and my body still had stored energy that was not used up—I am going to assume that possibly it did not fully get cured and that it may still return. The other condition was clearing up, but not fully cleared up, either. So, what this means is that I will have to perform yet another fast of extended duration and this time take it to completion.

However, before I attempt this again, I will take some time out to try to detoxify using other means as much as possible. Luckily, there are other means available that don’t require one to taste medicine continuously.

All in all, this was a successful experiment, I’d say. I’ve learned much, gained more faith, am definitely healthier and now know for sure that going without food for 35 days does not kill a man, as long as he is drinking water. I’ve lost a lot of weight, but I expect to gain it back. This time, though, it will be healthier flesh than what I lost. Not the toxin-loaded cells that I discarded.

I’ve got about one more week to wean myself off this fast. As of today, I’m drinking pure, fresh-squeezed juice. My appetite is beginning to really (finally!) open up, too.

Thursday, May 15th. I was supposed to start eating yogurt today but instead had a cup last night with chopped strawberries mixed in. It sat well, but began producing gas in the intestines. Today I’ve continued with the yogurt with fresh, whole, chopped (and also liquified) fruits mixed in. The gas continues to bubble in there, but it is not uncomfortable or painful. I chose to use whole milk yogurt from cows that aren’t treated with growth hormone (and that have probiotic cultures, etc.) It is just plain yogurt which I sweeten by the fruit. To be truthful, normally I don’t enjoy plain yogurt sweetened by fruit. But for some strange reason, it now tastes good to me, or at least, I can eat the whole thing without complaining. It is also really filling. I’m also drinking straight water now, lots of it, with no more medicine taste and no more need to put lemon juice in it (to overpower the taste of the medicine.) My salivary glands have completely calmed down, too. I no longer need to spit or clear my throat of saliva. All in all, I’m feeling fantastic, though I do look really skinny.

Friday, May 16th. This will be my last update. Tonight marks 40 days from when I first started this fast. I feel fantastic. I have successfully transitioned into eating a normal diet now. I want to mention and link to a free, online book written by Arnold Ehret called Rational Fasting: Regeneration Diet And Natural Cure For All Diseases taken from this page. It is in the public domain so anyone can download and read it. It contains an interesting theory as to why fasting works to cure so many illnesses so quickly. It also goes into the fact that all those who worked miracles were ascetics, who fasted much, whereas today we have many preachers who pray much and preach much but who do no miracles, as they fast very little. I had originally intended to wait maybe year before attempting another extended fast, however, as I was not able to fully cleanse my body, I plan on waiting some time, gaining strength, weight and experience, and then engaging in another extended fast, which I now think I should be able to easily go through to completion, as my understanding of how and why the body works, and how to control it, has been enlightened tremendously. When I perform the next extended fast, I will be sure to write another public journal on the experience. In the meantime, I plan on doing short fasts of one or two days from time to time. This is still a new experiment for me, but the results produced, despite the period of suffering I went through, were well worth the time, effort and diligence required. As I said, I feel fantastic. Everything tastes wonderful. I feel like much has been cleared out, but not everything. My confidence is soaring. My mind is sharper than ever before. My faith has grown stronger. All things considered, this has been a marvelous experience and I recommend it to everyone.

Good for you! I’m glad you’re sharing this with us. After your last post about this I took a look at some of the stuff and was put off because it seemed to be an inpatient “thing” and something that you would have to put everything else on hold for (i.e., family activities/responsibilities, etc.) on hold for. Are you in a position to put things on hold, or is that not an issue? What do you expect your energy level to be during this time of fasting? How did you research and come up with the clay/detox?

Sorry to pester you with all the questions, but I see an extended fast as something I need to do, hopefully sooner rather than later.

TheGlider, I am going about my days as I normally do. I expect my energy levels to increase, my mental acuity to increase, my strength to increase, etc. I do not recall how I found out about clay. For many years now I’ve studied alternative medicine techniques, as I mostly disagree with allopathic medicine, so I am aware of a variety of different healing modalities. I have also developed my own healing modality. This fast, among other things, is a test to see if my understanding of the human body is correct. I am doing more than just fasting. I cannot disclose all that I am doing, as it might reveal my identity because I am a pioneer (the world’s leading expert) in certain fields.

You may be interested in the following article on fasting, which contains modern research done in this area:

I have been living for some years what I call the “900 Year Diet”, but I’m hoping for at least 200 years. 😉 It involves eating one meal a day. I have never been much of an eater, so it really is more or less my natural appetite. I try to fast most Sundays. It is interesting to note that calorie restriction is proven through research on meal worms, lab mice, and fruit flies to extend the lives of all living organisms (50% reduction in caloric intake equals 100% increase in lifespan, on average).

TheGlider and Aj, thanks for the encouragement. Derek, I never heard of the 900 Year Diet, but I was aware that animal organisms live longer when food consumption is restricted. My personal desire for length of life is 600 years and then translation. When we are both in our 150’s, we’ll have to get together and discuss the last century.

I have been reading your fasting experience for 4 days now. I recently started a diet where I only eat once a day. After a few days I noticed that I had more energy and wanted to do some research to see if this was normal (society constantly tells us that going without food will cause us to loose all energy). In my search for information I found many websites that promote extended fasting as beneficial to the body (if done in moderation). Your blog was a good reference for seeing what is was like for someone while participating in the process.

I am now planning on doing an extended fast myself this summer (once grad school gets out). I have a goal to eventually reach a 40 day fast but I think I will start just shooting for a 10 days fast first.

Thanks for sharing your experience and I wish you the best of luck… don’t forget that once you get that natural “hunger” feeling back it is time to stop fasting, even if you haven’t reached your goal yet=)

My only fear is that if I do this fast and reap the benefits of it as well as make a change in my eating habits…. will I never eat at a pizza buffet again?=)

Raw milk is by far the best, including for yogurt. I recommend it. I may be able to help you find it in your area if you can’t. All the dead stuff in grocery story dairy causes the gas and comes from pasteurization. Yuck

I know where to get raw milk in my area, but I was following the Russian way of weaning off of the fast. I’m completely off of it now and have already gained more than eight pounds back in this past week. I no longer look skinny, but am actually approaching my normal weight (six more pounds to go.) When I started the fast, I was about 12 pounds above normal. (Marriage has a tendency to add more weight to a man, especially if the wife is a good cook.) I’ve been doing the squatting thing now since I ended the fast and am hooked on it. I’ll never go back. I’ll probably start another extended fast in two or three months. I want to be able to partake of the full sacrament for awhile (bread and water and not just water) before I start another fast to completion. The most amazing benefit, I think, since I’ve stopped is that I’ve got new taste buds. I don’t need to add anything to food for it to be tasty. I’m able to eat plain oatmeal or drink plain herbal teas without sweeteners. It all taste so good.

Thanks for the luck. i started my fast like i said on Tuesday. Today is Saturday and I am going strong. Felt like pretty dad last night (headache, queasy, itching) but it is not as bad today. I still seem surprised when I consider that I have now gone almost 5 whole days without eating anything. You were right though, hunger is not the problem (after the first few days) but queasyness is.

Don’t know how long I will go, hopefully at least ten days. I think that I might start following the fast one day a week and 7-10 four times a year program and this can just be my first long fast.

I can’t imagine having done this during law school and am glad that I waited until the summer.

Five days, that’s excellent! If it weren’t for the rapid and intense detoxification that occurs with fasting, it would be a piece of cake. Arnold Ehret, I think, did it best, consuming a mucus-less diet for awhile before attempting to fast, to cause gradual detoxification, so that when the fasting began in earnest, he wasn’t faced with the horror of experiencing all the crap we lug around coming out. He also performed something like five fasts over a period of fourteen months, each one longer than the other, something like 21 days, 28 days, 35 days, etc., and then finally 49 days, an apparent record for his time. Between fasts he would continue with his fruitarian/mucus-less diet and then afterward he’d perform feats of physical strength and endurance, astounding everybody with how his body had completely changed and strengthened, instead of weakened as was commonly thought would happen if you went without food for any length of time. I plan on doing some similar pre-fast preparations the next time I do an extended fast. Keep us posted on your progress and congratulations on the 5-day mark.

I have tried fasts, before too, though not for religious, health-related, or detox purposes. I completed a 12-day fast once and experienced many of the smae thing you did. However, a few things you wrote about were things I didn not experience during my fast.

The first thing was your energy increase. Was this significant? While fasting, my energy level was always very low. Did you drink anything other than water?

Another thing was the blemishes. Were they pimples? I’ve experinced oily skin while fasting but never unidentified lesions.

I was also wondering if the 21-day mark had a tangible change in your experience. It is said that after 21 days you are at your peak of health and wellness. Do you feel that this is true?

I am very inspired by your journal, and I hope that everything goes well for you in your future detoxification attempts.

Aque Monom, to be honest, I’d have to consult my notes (written above in the post) to recall the day-by-day experiences of the fast. I know I drank water and licked some sea salt afterward (according to the water cure protocol) to keep me properly hydrated and I often put some clay in the water. The blemishes were not pimples, but were some type of dermatitis, but they are all cleared up now. I don’t know if the 21st day marked a noticeable change in my health or not. I probably should have taken better notes! I know my broken toe felt better around that day, so maybe that saying is true. Still, to complete the treatment, I know I needed to go longer. Thanks for your visit and comment and I’m glad my notes were worth reading.

LDSA,
Whatl an amazing narrative. I would be very interested in what you would perceive as the longer term effects of your fast, spiritual and physical. As you look back on the experience, did you arrive at a higher plane because of the experience?

Spek, yes, overall, the extended fast was beneficial to me both spiritually, mentally, emotionally and physically. I am definitely more mature in all these areas as a result of that solitary fast, completed five months ago. So, the effects are definitely long term. Unless your doctor tells you you’ve got the gene (or whatever it is) that makes it dangerous for you to fast, I highly recommend it to everyone seeking enhanced spirituality and physical well-being.

I just noticed that you began the fast one year ago today. From this perspective, how would you describe the long term benefits? Have the spiritual insights continued?

I have been doing Intermittent Fasting for over a year, and want to try a 21-day water fast. I notice that in the first 21 days of your fast, you got over your hunger by day 3, and had low energy on days 6 and 7. On day 20, the pain in your injured toe was gone. So if my experience is anything like yours, the first 21 days should be pretty smooth sailing. When I am hungry during Intermittent Fasting, I just tell my body to eat my fat. Also, I realize that hunger is not all that painful, and can give me empathy for all of the people who have had to endure real pain.

You said that you lived your normal life. Did you do any exercise during the fast? Did you go for walks or lift weights? The people who do Intermittent Fasting find that lifting weights in a fasting state and not eating after exercising produce the best health results – clears the mind, burns fat, and creates muscle.

You mentioned that you lost a lot of weight but that you were gaining it back. One year later, how did that work out? Have you made any changes to your diet? Did you learn to cook?

I have read several fasting web sites. They are mostly vegans, and recommend drinking fruit juices to end the fast. Fruit juice is just about pure sugar, and would send my blood sugar skyrocketing. Then the insulin would flood my system and turn all that sugar into fat. I am thinking of drinking meat broth. What was it like for you when you ended the fast? What did you do? How did you feel? And what will you do differently in your next fast?

Wow, I did not realize that it was one year ago today that I began that fast! Thanks for reminding me!

Actually, I was thinking of starting another extended fast beginning this past Monday, without realizing that it was around this time I did the same thing last year… Weird…

Okay, now for your questions: The long term benefits have persisted. I still feel different since doing that fast. Spiritual insights have persisted, but I can’t say that this is directly attributable to that fast, although I am more spiritually “confident” than I was before the fast, which helps in receiving revelation. I did stretching exercises and moderate strength exercises during the fast, but no weight lifting or running. I have gained all the weight I lost back. I eat as I did before. And I still don’t cook. I just followed the fasting protocol of the previous fasting article to break my fast and I had no problems whatsoever. I feel about the same as I did when I ended the fast, except now I am doing squatting, which I think is a real key to health.

My next extended fast I will use the lemon in water technique to reduce any detox symptoms and I will use squatting during the entire length of the fast. Plus a few other modalities that I did not get to incorporate into the first fast (sorry, can’t say what they are). I expect it will be much easier to do than the first time around. I’d also like to have more ideal circumstances than I had the first time. I’ll try to write another online journal for the next fast and this time I’ll make sure I reach the 40-day mark.

Glad you found the fasting journal useful and I wish you luck on your fasting efforts! Thanks for the visit.

Thanks for answering all of my questions. Good luck in testing those new confidential modalities. If it works, I look forward to hearing about your breakthrough.

I am glad that you will be posting a journal of the new fast. I should probably keep a journal of my fasting experience, even if I don’t share it with anyone.

My primary fasting goal is to improve my health, which I view as having spiritual, mental, emotional, and physical components. So I’m very happy to hear that the spiritual effects have endured. I don’t want to pry into your personal life, but if you could say more about those changes it would be very interesting.

Some of the fasting web sites say that fasting gives greater mental clarity. One person even took all of their final exams in a fasted state and did really well. Did you notice improved mental clarity, or just normal functioning? Were there any lasting effects?

Did you notice any emotional changes? Do you have more confidence or compassion? You said that it made you appreciate all the good things we enjoy. Has that feeling stayed with you?

I really need to lose a lot of weight, so I was sad to hear that your fast did not result in permanent weight lost. But since you eat as you did before, it makes sense that you would return to your previous weight. If you don’t mind me asking, do you eat many carbohydrates? I hope to extend the state of ketosis after I end the fast, but I’ve read that if you eat anything containing sugar or starch, your body will switch back to using glycogen.

Finally, when I lived overseas, all the toilets were squat design. I agree that it is great for elimination. Just don’t let your cell phone fall out of your pocket!

Inspired by your experience, I began a 21-day water fast on May 7th. I have just completed my first week, and want to share my experience, which has been both good and bad.

First the bad. I have to be very careful drinking water. I can only take it in small sips. If I drink more, I get acid indigestion and heartburn. My stomach feels strange. It has a dull ache, which has gotten worse today. I notice that when I lie down it is less painful. On a scale of one to ten it has been a one throughout the week, but today it is a two. I can live with it, but I wish it would just go away. Most of the time, my energy levels are low. I exercise, but it takes willpower. At the beginning of the fast, my mind was often dull, but the last few days things are fine. On days 5 and 6 all I wanted to do was sleep.

Now the good. I have had absolutely no hunger. I have been doing Intermittent Fasting for about a year, so my body must be conditioned to using my fat stores when my carbohydrates are used up. I have lost 20 pounds! My sex drive is fine. My skin is not sagging. The bad breath from ketosis only lasted one day. As far as I can tell, I have not lost any muscle mass. My Tanita scale indicates that I have gone from 40% body fat to 35.6%. My total body water has been constant at around 46%. I am able to lift the same weight as before, in the same sequence. But I did notice that I needed to do deep breathing between sets.

In fact, I have found that I have needed to do deep breathing several times a day throughout the fast. I think that it is due to lowered blood pressure, which would mean that less oxygen is being pumped through the brain. It would also explain why my mind has been a little dull. I don’t have a blood pressure cuff, so I can’t measure it.

From what I have experienced so far, I would recommend water fasting to anyone who has high blood pressure, diabetes, or morbid obesity. I’ve done other things that were a lot harder and produced much less satisfying results.

Robert, glad to learn that I’ve inspired you to attempt an extended fast. I wish you the best in that endeavor. I wonder, are you taking salt, or just water? Salt helps to keep you hydrated. You may want to look into that if you haven’t already. Concerning the questions that I neglected to answer…I had improved mental clarity for some time afterward, though I don’t remember how long it lasted. (As you can tell, the mental clarity did not persist an entire year!) The emotional changes have persisted the entire time. I feel more compassionate towards the poor, needy, hungry, afflicted, etc. and also more confident in my own abilities. I am more calm and prone to reserve judgment, etc. These changes I directly ascribe to that extended fast. On a spiritual plane, and by that I mean in receiving communications from God, I’m not sure that I can say that my extended fast put me on a new level, so to speak. Year by year I have received more communications, so each year I learn more, and this past year wasn’t any different, except in a couple of aspects. A couple of revelations/prophecies I received, one about seven or eight months ago and another about 12 days ago, were decidedly different than others I’ve received. I don’t really want to go into details as they are of a personal nature, but I will say that they were a bit of a departure from previous revelations and have essentially altered the affairs of my entire family. Also, I’m noticing prophetic signs, meaning that I’m noticing the Lord using certain aspects of my life as prophetic signs. That is a first for me. But still, this may just be a natural progression in the spirit of prophecy and revelation and gospel life, and not directly attributed to an extended fast. I am sure, though, that fasting does help narrow the distance between the individual and his Creator. To be honest, I do not keep track of what I eat. I eat whatever my wife cooks, which almost always tastes good. But I’m just as content to eat nothing but raw fruits and vegetables. In fact, years ago, I once lived on only raw zucchini for about two or three weeks! (I was single and had obtained a ton of zucchini, didn’t like to cook, etc.) So, food is no longer on my mind like it was when I was fasting and afterward. Even before the fast, though, I was pretty much a wanna-be breatharian anyway (I’d conversed at length with a local breatharian and had leanings towards that), so undertaking an extended fast really was not really that far-fetched to me. I take a plasma science-based view of pretty much everything, so energy is what it comes down to. I know what gives me energy and keeps me awake and what puts me to sleep and I use that knowledge accordingly. Fasting appears to cause the body to a rely on the local plasma environment for most, if not all, of its energy needs, but the mind doesn’t like to let go of the belief that energy must come from food, which can cause trouble in fasting attempts. But I’ve rambled on too much already. I’m going to cut this short (too late!) and simply say that some of the things you brought up have to do with an blog article I hope to have posted some time next week. Thanks for the thoughts.

The detailed answers were great. Fasting has many aspects, and I am interested in all of them.

And thanks so much for the tip about salt. It was a detail that I overlooked. I drink around two liters of water each day, so I just put a teaspoon of sea salt in the jug and mixed it up. Does that sound about right to you? Drinking salted water dramatically reduced the heartburn, and makes it easier to drink the amount of water I need.

I was also wondering about minerals. Did you take any kind of mineral supplement?

Finally, my web research explained the “wolf’s appetite”. Once you have used up all of your stored fat, your body begins to cannibalize your muscles. At that point, you feel an overwhelming urge to eat. The body is pretty smart!

Concerning salt, let me point you to the world’s (late) expert in that area, Dr. B. Although he is no longer with us, his research and books still are. I used a rock salt that had minerals in it, so that’s how I covered that area.

The tip about salt has made all of the difference in the world! Anyone who does a water fast MUST consume sea salt every day. My energy level is totally transformed, and I feel like a new man. I will have no problem reaching my goal now.

I love watercure.com. What a wealth of information! The Tony Robbins interview of Dr. Batmanghelidj was especially helpful. I bought some Redmond’s Ancient All Natural Sea Salt with more than 50 trace minerals, so I now feel covered on that score. I followed Dr. Batmanghelidj’s instructions on the amounts of water and sea salt to consume for someone my weight. My total body water went from 46.0 to 48.6 in a single day, so I was obviously dehydrated! As I said, my energy rebounded, and I feel great. That nugget of information has turned a looming disaster into a resounding success.

Fasting is really easy. There is no hunger. Your body gets all the food it needs from your fat.

The hardest part of fasting is drinking all of the water needed to keep your total body water at a healthy level. Sometimes I drink a gallon a day! Another bad side effect is the occasional loss of energy. The only other unpleasant aspect is the boredom of having the same thing for breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day.

Other than that, it has been a breeze.

The results have been fantastic. When I began, I was at 40% body fat. This can lead to all kinds of health problems, including an early death. In 21 days I have gone from 40% BF to 26% BF! My pants fit again! My face is no longer fat!

I know that I must change my relationship with food to keep from regaining the weight. But this is such a wonderful health breakthrough for me that I am highly motivated.

Once I start eating protein again, I will spend three days a week at the gym doing the Art DeVany basic weight lifting workout. I know how important it is to stimulate the hormones that slow aging and start all of the positive hormonal spirals. Once I feel the hormones kicking in, I will start fast every third day. I will use NLP to make all of these changes stick.

If I do another fast, I will make a few changes. I will precede the fast by a week of eating only fish, meat, and eggs. This will put me in a state of ketosis, which will make the first three days of the fast very easy. It will also give my body a chance to store a lot of minerals. I will take a high quality multi-vitamin multi-mineral to replace any nutrients I lose through sweat, urine, or exhalation. I will take psyllium seed husks to keep the waste materials moving through my system. I believe that these changes will give me more energy during the fast.

Unfortunately, I did not experience any of the spiritual insights or acute mental clarity that others have mentioned. But the health benefits have been so positive that I will just count my blessings and keep on keeping on.

Thanks again for sharing your experience. It was an inspiration that has helped me change my life.

I will report back at the end of the summer and let you know if the changes have lasted.

Congratulations, Robert! Three weeks is a fantastic accomplishment. I wish you luck on all subsequent fasts.

Am I understanding what you wrote correctly? Are you saying that you will fast every third day? If so, is this your own regime or is this something that others are doing? (I’ve heard of people fasting one day every week, but never every third day.)

Intermittent fasting is starting to get a lot of scientific attention. It is based on the belief that our hunter/gatherer ancestors did not eat three meals every day, and thus we have evolved to live without food from time to time, so it is actually beneficial to fast intermittently. Intermittent fasting is almost always combined with intense, short-duration weight lifting and/or sprints. For more details, see:

Thanks for documenting your fasting experience, it has helped my resolve and increased my courage for the days ahead. I am on day 9 of my 91 day water fast. I have undertaken the fast primary for health purposes, however I have notice a calm and peace come over my experiences, and I have noticed how frivolous so many of my everyday pursuits have been.

When I started this fast I weighed 393 pounds, had high blood pressure and I was starting to show the signs of diabetes. While on the fast I am drinking only distilled water and performing salt water flushes every few days. I am also monitoring my blood sugar 4 times daily to make sure that I don’t enter a hypoglycemic state, monitoring my blood pressure once a day and my weight every 7 days. Since being on the fast my blood sugar has maintained normal ranges, my blood pressure has been in the borderline range instead of the high ranges and on my first weigh in I am down 36 pounds at 357 pounds. My energy range has been in the normal range however I have noticed that my endurance has decreased and every now and then I feel like I need a nap so I take one and come back strong again. My detox symptoms has been relatively mild in my opinion and I am looking to go the distance.

Thanks again for your work it has really helped me through this first week.

The reason I choose 91 days was that I want to complete the months of December, January and February; the completion of 91 days will place me on the first day of March. I also believe that my body has enough stored energy to carry me through this fast, however I have planned certain stop gap measures just in case.

Now for my update, today is the morning of day 14 and I ‘m feeling good about my fasting. Day 10 was a day of heavy temptation, every I had to go people were trying to get me to eat what they bake or of what they just had a little extra. Day 11 and 12 I was battling some heavy duty nausea, I was about ready to call it quits if it continued into day 13, but I didn’t. My day 12 weigh in placed me at 348 pounds down 45 pounds since I started. I have also started to feel the weather more and I have started to dress in layers. My energy level has been good though there are times that I forget while I am fasting I am not a super man and all the acts of strength that I have routinely performed I can’t do and leave me thoroughly exhausted. Another effect of this fast is that I find my self much more studious, willing to take the time read and meditate.

Thank you for the great post and also the great comments. I’m on day 10 of 40 and I refuse to quit. Many of the symptoms you mentioned happened in me as well and I’ve also had a heightened sense of smell and taste (the water especially). I’ve also decided to change my lifestyle after this, and cut my meat/cooked food/starch intake considerably, I mean, how can you not after seeing what’s INSIDE your body! I hope you and your wife are well so many years after this post. We’d love an update.

Did you ever fast again? I’ve been thinking about trying it. Would you recommend doing it differently than you did the first time? Have you been using any other body cleansing products or techniques since then? Please e-mail me privately, if you would. I have a lot of other questions to ask you. –Adam

Since then I’ve done short fasts, but not any extended fasts like this one. Oh, yeah, I’d do some things differently next time. Most definitely. For example, I would make sure I was fully hydrating myself for 30 or more days prior to beginning. Perhaps I would ease into it with some juice fasting or lemon cleanses, etc. During the fast, I would now know what to focus on, meaning that my prayers and mental focus would be very different than what it was during those 35 days. So, spiritually speaking, there would be major differences. I don’t think I would use any special products or techniques, other than what I used in my last extended fast. If you want to send me a private message, you can do so through my Wireclub account. See the far right-hand column of this page, underneath the calendar. There you will find the link to my Wireclub account page.

I’ve been reading about extended fasting and was intrigued by your story. I’m curious why you haven’t done another extended fast, given the benefits you perceived during the first one. I’m not being critical, the longest I’ve ever fasted was 48 hours, and I was miserable, but I think it’s interesting how your journal includes comments about your fast being “easy; piece of cake” as well as “really hard,” and am left wondering if you now view the prospect of doing it again through the “really hard” lens — if that is the feeling you remember most. Anyway, thanks for the write-up, it’s inspired me to try it.

Matt, I haven’t started another extended fast because I haven’t done the necessary preparations for one. Like I said in the comment above yours, I’d like to do some preparation next time around. To answer your next question, I don’t view it through a “really hard” lens. I just remember the first few days as being quite difficult. The rest of the time wasn’t all that difficult, except for the very last part with that medicine taste, etc. When I think back on that fast, I mostly remember how easy it was after those first few days.

Just a quick note in case I ever forget: I ended a 30-day fast in the latter half of January (2014). It was my second extended fast and I did not take notes this time. I obtained three new revelations and one very powerful manifestation (the second most powerful manifestation I’ve ever experienced) during its final days. I had intended to go 40 days, but had to cut it short. I am tempted to begin another extended fast to complete my goal, but I still have not regained all the weight I lost. Although I feel really good physically, as a result of the fast, my spiritual goals were not met. So, I am again making preparations and reviewing options to see if I can do another one soon. Perhaps this time I will keep a journal, like I did the first time.

I really appreciate your journal. It has inspired me to fast.
I want to clarify one thng, though, LDSAnarchist. Were you aware of the fact that most of the cells in human body re-generate every 10 years or so. So even if you had had some pharmacuticals embeded in your cells in childhood, don’t you think it is highly unlikely that those same cells were still in your body when you fasted?

When I did that fast, I had been using one particular medication since childhood. So, although my body had already cleared out the childhood medications, the ones that I had been using for the last decade were still there. Plus, my understanding is that the body can become conditioned to medication (or anything else) through prolonged use, so that it more readily accepts and accumulates whatever is used. I suspect that that is what happened to me, for over the years I had to use only a fraction of the prescribed dosage to have the same effect.

I was very pleased this last extended fast (the one I did in January) to discover that I no longer had any medicine taste towards the end, so it would appear that I have already largely purged these chemicals from my body.

Hi LDSAnarchy
I was also inspired to do a fast by your experience with extended fasting.
However I only reached 26 days. My period kicked in and I never felt such pain, i also saw black before my eyes without blacking out. While I had dreamless nights at the start, by day 21 my dreams got intense.
I have to admit that it scared me and made me break the fast (mostly because of the pms pain).
The blemishes vanished very slowly. After two months it was still visible…
But yes, i felt fantastic too, the way you discribe it. Lost some weight and kept it off.

i just wonder if extended fasting is more intended for a male body than for a female.

i just wonder if extended fasting is more intended for a male body than for a female.

That’s an interesting question. What you described reminded me of an episode of the Naked and Afraid show on The Discovery Channel in which the girl from Hawaii (Alison, I think was her name) said her period was unbelievably painful during the show. The contestants in the show more or less go hungry and thirsty (they fast) for 21 days, since the contestants in the episodes I’ve so far seen have not been able to obtain much food or water in the harsh environments they were put in. Off-hand, from your comment, my initial reaction is that perhaps you weren’t drinking enough water or were not taking any (or enough) sea salt during the fast. In other words, it sounds to me like you were experiencing dehydration effects, since pain can be caused by dehydration. Obviously, I don’t have all the facts and there may be much more to it than that, but that’s my initial assessment based solely on your comment. The last fast that I did demonstrated to me that I needed to vastly increase my water and salt intake. In other words, I learned that I had miscalculated the amount of water and salt I needed to take on a daily basis for the fast. So I increased it, shooting for 160 ounces of water (16 ten-ounce glasses) and 1 teaspoon of salt (1/8 teaspoon after every 20 ounces drunk) each and every day. The increased water and salt intake made me feel great, to say the least. So, it may be the same with you, that you miscalculated the amount of water and salt your body needed for an extended fast.

Now I’m not a medical doctor or an OBG [I just know biochemistry and nutrition] — but given that, I can say that women certainly do react differently to energy deficiencies than men do because there are sexual dimorphisms with respect to the hormonal regulations of body fat. Women [especially those at reproductive age] need a certain amount of storage n-3 fatty-acids to support fetal brain development [should she get pregnant during that cycle]. So her body is more likely to “hang on” to fat than a man’s. That’s why a significant reduction in body fat % for women will tend to result in amenorrhea.

However, if your cycle kicked-in during the fast then it’s unlikely that your body was seeing itself in a state of starvation. So it seems that the intensity of the pain/cramps could potentially have been explained by what LDSA said — which is essentially a hydration and electrolyte balance problem.

Both dehydration and improper electrolyte balance will cause muscle cramps in women and men — so I’d suspect that if you were getting cramps due to your menstruation, then a hydration/electrolyte imbalance caused by the fasting would only exacerbate that. But since you did continue your cycle, then it doesn’t seem likely that you pushed things “too far” by fasting [because if you had, I’d expect your cycle wouldn’t have come].

I don’t know that show. But together with the pain there comes the whole weird moodiness and the emotional rollercoaster issue. Maybe she wasn’t the favorite person during the show…

Well, I had after the second week problems with the salt. I took the Himalaya salt, and with the time I found it more nauseating. So I switched it between the normal salt with Iodine. I did took a teaspoon for measure, just not overloaded.
101 – 135 ounces per day, is what I drank. Here, I had 3 different kinds of Water (what a luxury hm?). I took Evian, the other was similar, just cheaper, and the third was high in mineral salt (I drank it more after my salt disgust and took less salt). To cheat I boiled water and let half of the salt dissolve, it was sort of a soup.

One more factor might be, that I the fast during winter ( had some spare time). On day 24, I took a bath, I knew that I shouldn’t but I felt dirty, that drained me a bit of power. My mens. started on day 25 and the pain got intense.
I am not fully new to fasting, I’ve done an organic juice fast twice, but only one week each.

Justin,
I would like to add that I am not very knowledgeable with what you explained.
But I was aware that It takes a very long time until the menstruation stops. Happens with the bodybuilder women due to the low body fat they reach.
I had a friend who had orthorexia nervosa, she basically ate only 1 Apple, sometimes 1 piece of dark bread, and very seldom a salad per day. Can’t remember exactly when her cycle stopped but I think it took several months. After 4-5 years she went back to normal, still eats very less but as far as I know her menstruation is back.

Like I said before, the biggest factor might have been me being moody and extremely emotional. I can’t control it. So during that time I am very sensitive. One word is enough to make me either cry or make me angry. I knew the pain would eventually go away, but I was very worried that I didn’t do the fast right and other things that were on my mind.
Day 26 might have been a factor of all the described symptoms AND me not being rational. My goal was to pass 30 days…

————————

Last year I saw that GQ had an article for water fasting, guess a women’s magazine wouldn’t publicize anything similar, it might be to controversial.

Well I’m on day 9 of a water fast, 31 more to go. Started with an Esther fast.
On the 7th day unreal heart burn, so painful. The Lord told me to drink a little bit of of the raspberry lemonade water mix, that I prepare for my daughter, that night. Just a little and a little water, & the heartburn went away immediately. Then the Holy Ghost brought back to my remembrance 1 Tim. 5:23. It wasn’t wine but it balanced out and helps me sleep at night. LORD God is merciful.
But today I’m feel so worn. Been difficult to get started on anything as I was doing. But Jesus is my help.

Any ways wonder if you’ve heard of diatomaceous earth that is what I’m going to start in a daily regimen to keep my intestines clean and parasite free. I don’t do it now because unsure of the effects and sure don’t want to overload, ruining my fast.

Hello, I am starting a 30 day water fast from tomorrow onwards. My main reasons are to lose 20kg and clear up my skin. I had acne for years and i think it is due to my diet. I read that after 10 days of water fasting, skin with severe acne completely clears up. I would really want to get clear skin and be much leaner.